Students and residents urge board to reinstate district ethnic studies elective after vote to remove it

Dozens of students and community members urged the Western Plaster Unified School District Board of Trustees on Tuesday to reverse its decision to remove a locally developed ethnic studies elective that had attracted large student interest. ‘‘Please consider listening to the voices and needs of the students more,’’ said William Police, a freshman at Lincoln High School, after telling the board that 83 students had signed up for the class. The appeal followed public testimony from retired educator Harriet Crude, who said the curriculum had been developed by a committee of teachers, staff and students using state guidance and local input. ‘‘I was so glad that the board approved an ethnic study curriculum based on Lincoln. . . . My question is, what are you afraid of?’’ Crude said. The board member who explained concerns after the vote framed the decision around three perceived problems: how the course was adopted locally rather than using a state model, whether an elective competes with core academics, and whether the curriculum could be seen as divisive. Trustee Price said the board had helped create the local curriculum and noted safeguards in district policy intended to prevent one-sided instruction. ‘‘I just think in this particular situation, we as a board, we got this wrong,’’ Price said, urging colleagues to reconsider. The removal was raised repeatedly during public comment: speakers said the course validated students’ experiences, improved engagement, and that the district had previously approved the curriculum and funded it when offered as an elective. Board members and staff did not announce a new vote or formal timeline for revisiting the decision during the meeting. The item has been the subject of earlier meetings and was discussed during public comment and trustees’ reports at Tuesday’s meeting. Speakers pressed the board to either restore the locally developed elective immediately or provide a clear path to a compromise version before any state mandate requires a different model of instruction. No formal motion to reverse the earlier action was recorded during the meeting. Board members left the topic open for further discussion at a future meeting.